


A Method for Spatio-Temporal Coherence

by andiemerizein



Category: Adam (2009), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hannibal Extended Universe, M/M, One Shot Collection, autistic characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 18:36:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14219262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andiemerizein/pseuds/andiemerizein
Summary: Ficlets about Adam Raki and modern!Galen Erso's relationship through the lens of an autism-related prompt collection





	1. #RedInstead (Birthday Date Night)

**Author's Note:**

> Some months ago at this point, I was wondering who Adam might meet in California under a set of circumstances I had in mind, and [Tirlaeyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirlaeyn) suggested a modern AU Galen Erso. While I got extremely invested in the idea right away and have long had a clear picture of how I think their relationship might play out (thanks again to long conversations with Tir), inspiration to actually write anything featuring these guys has been lacking. 
> 
> I saw this Autistic Creative Challenge [prompt collection](http://uniqueaspergirl.tumblr.com/post/141961399842/to-celebrate-the-autism-awareness-month-april-i) on tumblr, and while I don't necessarily want to make it A Thing over there for Autism "Awareness"/Acceptance Month, I was inspired to respond to the prompts with my autistic faves as the subject. Adam is, of course, canonically on the spectrum, but something I didn't know until Tir made me read (er, start reading) the Rogue One prequel novel "Catalyst" is that Galen is pretty heavily coded autistic as well. And wow, do I ever identify with him! I think these two are adorable and great for each other and I hope you do, too--every fandom needs some science boyfriends (arguably the Hannibal fandom already has some, but you can never have too many). 
> 
> Since there are 30 different prompts and I haven't written them all yet, I'm not going to start tagging content for each chapter in the story tags, lest I end up with a Wall O' Tags. I think I'm going to title each chapter with both the prompt and the actual theme of the chapter, with additional tag-worthy stuff in the chapter notes.

April 9th, 2015

Adam does not like walking through this park in April. A local chapter of Autism Speaks often has a table here for Autism Awareness Month, and when he first moved to California he once made the mistake of trying to engage them. Now, whenever he needs to pass through, like on the way to his and Galen’s favorite science museum, he gets anxious. It’s Galen’s birthday, though, and the museum is open after its usual hours tonight for ages 21 and up.

Galen offers Adam his hand, and Adam squeezes hard enough to feel his wedding band digging into the fingers on either side. Galen matches Adam’s pace evenly as they purposefully make their way to the museum across the park. But as they pass the spot where he expects a table covered in blue and puzzle pieces, today there is a table with a red banner across the front of it announcing "Autism Acceptance Month" and "#RedInstead."

Adam relaxes and loosens his grip on Galen’s hand.


	2. Stimming (Swivel Chair)

July 12th, 2012

Galen enters the house, tense and shaken from his drive home from work. Answering police questions about the accident he’d witnessed had sent him into a panic. He’s still feeling the cold and shaking and lightheadedness, and they remind him too much of the same sensations he felt that night eleven years ago when he learned his wife had been killed in a collision.

He crosses through the living room to the office, sits in his swivel chair, and spins as fast as the chair will go. The intense vestibular input overrides the other sensations his body is feeling, and calms him. He’s blissfully oblivious to his surroundings. Eventually Adam appears in the doorway to the office, watching him fondly in silence. 


	3. Special Interest (Astronomy Date)

November 2nd, 2010

Adam parks the car along the side of the road at the base of the hill, and hurries around to get his telescope out of the trunk. Galen appears at his side carrying a blanket, a camera and tripod, and a large thermos of cocoa. They trek up the hill along a path Adam has walked by himself many times.

“It’s going to be the second comet visited by the Deep Impact spacecraft, which first visited Comet Tempel 1 five years ago. And only three other comets have been visited by spacecraft before that. In 2008 the Spitzer Space Telescope determined Hartley 2’s shape and measured its albedo, which is only 0.028--I hope it’s not too hard to see,” explains Adam as Galen lays out the blanket. It’s nice, Adam thinks, talking about astronomy to Galen. He’ll talk about astronomy to anyone who will listen, but it’s the most fun when he knows that the other person understands him. Galen is the ideal person to talk to: he understands physics and astronomy, but the details Adam shares are usually new to him.

Galen, for his part, is excited when Adam finds Comet Hartley 2 through the telescope, but even more beautiful than the comet is the joy that shows on Adam’s face. After the thrill of the first glimpse of the comet should have passed, he finds the feeling persists at listening to Adam speak, at sharing a cup of cocoa with him, at lying beside him on top of a hill, gazing at the sky.


	4. Communication (Kink Negotiation, Mature)

November 6th, 2010

Adam opens the email detailing Galen’s list of limits and what he’s interested in today. It’s the first Saturday of the month, which makes it Adam’s turn to tie Galen up. Even though they’ve been doing this for over six months now, every other week at first and now every week, they still send each other a list of their hard and soft limits the morning of, and they both spell out what they want from a scene in writing ahead of time. Not much changes from week to week, other than whose turn it is to top, but Adam doesn’t see them ever doing it differently. 

He immediately sees something is missing from Galen’s limit list, but he needs to read it to figure out what it is. When he figures it out, he gets butterflies in his stomach. He sees that “anal sex” has migrated from the hard limits to the soft limits, and that everything else sexual has disappeared from the list altogether.

Adam thinks for a moment about how he felt watching the comet with Galen the other night before making the same changes to his own lists in his reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I was really curious how a "tie each other up first, date later" scheme would go for these two. I kinda think it could work.


	5. Freebie (Vacation)

November 19th, 2012  
  
Adam wanders into the glass dome on the side of the cottage carrying two cups of mulled wine. He hands one to Galen, who is seated on the bed looking up at the sky.   
  
“What did I do to deserve you?” Galen asks with a slightly forced smile.  
  
“Well, you listen to me talk about space and actually care and understand what I’m saying, and you have kinks that are very compatible with mine, and you’re kind, and you’re very sexually attractive, and you understand me and I like to think I understand you. At least better than I understand most people,” Adam replies. “That was rhetorical, wasn’t it?”  
  
Adam sets down his wine briefly to retrieve the weighted blanket from his big suitcase. Galen has had a rough day and spent all afternoon worried that he’s ruined their vacation. He hasn’t, and after today’s meltdown caused by the stress of traveling, Adam wants to help him relax. He drapes the blanket over Galen’s shoulders and sits silently beside him.  
  
“Thank you,” Galen says, almost tearful. “I love you.”  
  
Adam hesitates for a moment, sipping at his wine. Maybe he shouldn’t bother Galen with making any decisions tonight. On the other hand, Jyn seems to think Galen already has an answer.  
  
“Galen, will you marry me?”

**Author's Note:**

> Chronologically, these are going to be all over the place, spanning at least 5 years, which wouldn't be much of an issue if there were like 5 or even 10 of them but I apologize if it gets hella confusing with 30 of these things. If it gets weird, let me know.


End file.
